Coastal fishing communities who depend on marine resources for food and livelihood are particularly vulnerable to the risks and impacts associated with climate variability and change. Countries in the BCLME region have responded to international calls to develop national climate change policies, adaptation strategies and plans to respond to these threats. These high-level documents recognize the need to better understand the vulnerabilities facing poor and marginalized communities in high risk areas and develop adaptive capacity to build resilience. However, small-scale fisheries are seldom explicitly mentioned. Furthermore, there is very little guidance on how vulnerability assessments should be conducted and how this information could inform adaptation planning. This paper reports on a community based, participatory and rapid vulnerability assessment methodology that was developed, tested and then applied in 15 communities in the BCLME region. The outcomes of these vulnerability assessments were then used to inform the development of local adaptation plans in five of these communities. Key findings from these local vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning processes are then presented. The discussion centers on the value, benefits and limitations of the participatory and rapid vulnerability assessment process, the need to take a holistic approach to understanding vulnerability, the ongoing and iterative nature of adaptation planning, the power of partnerships and networks, and the need to integrate community-based plans into other sector and climate change adaptation strategies and plans at all levels of governance.

依靠海洋资源谋生的沿海捕鱼社区特别容易受到与气候多变性和变化相关的风险和影响的影响。BCLME地区的国家响应了国际呼吁，以制定应对这些威胁的国家气候变化政策，适应战略和计划。这些高级文件认识到有必要更好地了解高风险地区的贫困和边缘化社区所面临的脆弱性，并发展适应能力，以建立抵御能力。但是，很少明确提及小型渔业。此外，关于如何进行脆弱性评估以及该信息如何为适应计划提供指导的指导很少。本文以社区为基础，参与，快速的脆弱性评估方法，已在BCLME地区的15个社区开发，测试并应用。这些脆弱性评估的结果随后被用于为其中五个社区的当地适应计划的制定提供信息。然后介绍了这些本地漏洞评估和适应计划过程的主要发现。讨论的重点是参与性和快速脆弱性评估过程的价值，收益和局限性，需要采取整体方法来了解脆弱性，适应计划的持续和反复性，伙伴关系和网络的力量，以及将基于社区的计划整合到其他部门和各级治理的气候变化适应战略和计划中。